‘The Italy game was bizarre'

An upbeat Paul O’Connell wants fewer slips from an Irish side lacking in confidence and in need of a slice of luck

Paul O'Connell says Ireland are in need of a confidence boost (Patrick Kovarik)

We’ve been sparring cautiously with Paul O’Connell for nearly 20 minutes when
suddenly he drops the C-word into the conversation: confidence. His audience
leans a little closer.

It’s a prickly subject, this, the suggestion that the national team might be
short on self-belief in a season when they need to be at their most bullish.
Ronan O’Gara brought it up in a post-match television interview three months
ago and Declan Kidney tried to kill the germ of doubt before it grew but now
O’Connell introduces it again.

“It’s one thing we need — a little bit of luck and probably a little bit of
confidence as well,” he says. “You look at what Leinster are doing at the
moment, you look at how Ulster have played. Maybe the Munster team aren’t
playing very well but there are still a lot of very good players there.
There’s great potential in the side